WW2(Old Version, Rewritten up!)

Chapter 23: The Group

Anker trodded along the hallway of the new base in England. Out from the public eye, and stuffed with hidden AA guns. Juels helped him along as he leaned into his walking stick.

"Was the car ride here comfortable?" Juels asked as he knocked upon the door. It was coated with wood but underneath plated steel.

"Wasn't too bad, considering my leg and all," Anker laughed as he gripped his walking stick.

John opened the door, lightened up with a smile greater than the Sun, he welcomed them in. The large building appeared to be structured with stone and wood, an unappealing view with little design thought. A true contrast to the indoors.

Anker struggled his way through the corridor, but as he relied on Juels, John, and his stick for support, he couldn't but help gawk at the lavish designs and paintings that stuck to the wall. Ingrained within the hardstone, patterns and drawings that could calm even the stormest of seas.

"Nice safe-house eh?" John chuckled.

"It's dam well beautiful," Anker looked around as they began walking up the stairs.

"It is the room on the left at the end of this hallway," Juels informed.

"Yeah, we have some new members, they are in the middle of training so don't expect to see them too often," John told.

"Shouldn't you be with them?"

"Nah, they viewed me as skilled enough to not spend any more time nor money on me." 

Juels warned, "Some guys there went through El Alamein, one of them is pretty shaken up about it so try and stay off that topic."

"Yes sir," Anker smiled as they approached the room

John opened the door, the room inside was calm, in both the architecture and the low hum of chatting.

"There's the man!" Andrzej excitedly got up and raised his glass of beer.

"To Anker, who fucked up his entire body so I can fight another day!"

A cheer arose as the room full of people drank their beer. Andrzej sat back down upon the brown couch. The area was illuminated by light piercing its way through the bullet-resistant windows. The two ends of the room had chairs, tables and couches as well as some cupboards. The middle was clear of any junk, one large round table sat along with a multitude of chairs, aside it was a pool table.

Anker sat down on a double sofa, resting his jelly legs that refused to function. Vera approached him with a pint of beer, he gladly took it. She sat down.

"So, you think it was worth breaking your legs to free two prisoners?" She asked, her Russian accent making it slightly difficult to understand.

"No regrets," He took a sip of the beverage.

"Thanks for saving us back there in gas chamber," she smiled, "Sorry I said you were having tantrum as well, I was mistaken."

"No worries, Luca did the same thing, Ain't that right Luca!"

"Don't underestimate him!" He called back as he placed the cards down. He resumed playing with Oliver.

"I take it you're staying with the group?" 

"Yeah, I-uhhh" She rubbed her eyes.

"скажи по русски. Я знаю, немного," Anker reflected her lifted emotion.

"Как вы думаете, читатели действительно переведут это," She spoke with confidence.

"Okay," Anker chuckled, "My Russian ain't that good."

The door opened, the sounds of light footsteps traversed the room as Devil's Ace entered.

"No fucking way you speak Russian," He laughed as he walked to and hugged Anker who was still seated.

"And no fucking way you heard that when that door was shut," Anker ruffled his sleeve.

"What can I say, I can do the impossible," He smiled as he brought in a chair.

Curiously with broken English, Vera asked, "How did hear, umm,  did you hear?"

"As I said, I can do the impossible," He smirked.

"He really can, you should see how accurate his strafing and bombing runs are."

The opened once again, The Man walked in as everyone stopped their actions and stood up in a salute except Anker. The Man held a briefcase as he walked in. 2 Soldiers stood outside the door, propped up like statues as the door shut.

The Man ordered, "Make your way to the table."

They began moving as The Man quickly yet elegantly prepared their briefing. Low chatter still clung to the room as the curtains were drawn and the light switched on. Anker stood up slowly, heavily depending on his walking stick. Vera helped him up as Juels came to also support him.

"Anker, my English is not good, can you help?" Vera asked Anker.

"No problem, not like I can go anywhere," He sat down at the table, opposite a board where aerial photographs and maps were pinned on. The left of him was Vera, on his right Juels.

Everyone sat down with a notepad and a pen as they awaited the final few seconds of preparation. The wooden chairs almost touched each other, the table shone as if it was recently polished. Juels had a look around to see how many people were in the once small group.

He, Luca, Oliver, John, Devil's Ace, Anker of course; Andrzej, Vera, Chang were skilled in their own right but new. He looked and paid attention closely to the newcomers, however. Theodore, Kevin seemed okay but were unknown; they learnt fast in training from what he saw. Then there were the tank crews of El-Alamein. 

Thomas, and 6 of his tank crew. All are either from Australia or New Zealand. Thomas sat coldly, cigarette in one hand, the windows for his souls stared blankly at the table. His crew seemed to be more lively, yet they too were bogged down.

"All right," The Man started as he pointed to the map, "Juels, you and some people will be heading towards Norway. The spy that you and Anker caught broke. Something major is happening there in the Arctic region, once you are there you will be all alone. Your mission is to infiltrate a base the very north of Skipsfjord. Get in, find what the Hell they are working on and get out."

Juels spoke up, "One question, how the fuck are we supposed to get in let alone out of that location."

"Much of the sea near the coast is frozen over due to winter. A ship will drop you off and you would have to ski to the location. It is on top of a hill but no one knows you are coming. Silence and stealth are key, use suppressors if you have to. Preferably, the Nazis don't even know you came."

"Hold on," John interrupted, "Why would the spy we captured know about this location?"

Oliver responded, "Don't question it."

"Now, you will have a week before a ship comes in and picks you up again at the same location. Let's go over the logistics..."